Pine Cliffs Resort

Without a doubt, it is one of the best hotel resorts in Europe if not the world, the Sheraton Pine Cliffs is a wonderful resort in the south of Portugal. This hotel really deserves all the accolades that have been heaped upon it, including the most recent, it was awarded by the “World Travel Awards” as The best resort of Portugal for 2005.

We (that’s my wife and I and our 2 young children) regularly visit this resort mid Sept / early October when the hotel is relatively quiet, but is still catching the good weather Portugal is famed for, having over 300 days of sun per year we think it’s one of the best holiday destinations in Europe.

The hotel is absolutely amazing, in its design, facilities for both children & adults, service standards, wonderful grounds and the spectacular views as you descend the lift to the white sands of the unspoiled Falésia beach, the only one in the Algarve classified with the EU Golden Flag.

Each time we visit we stay in a 2 bed golf suite with a large balcony overlooking the wonderful but challenging 9 hole course. The apartments are beautifully laid out with full kitchen/laundry facilities, TV’s, dvd/cd player etc etc, all you would expect from a 5* resort, I have just read that each suite has been refurbished, not that they needed it.

Two of the main reasons we visit Pine Cliffs is the fantastic sports/leisure facilities which include Indoor/outdoor pools, 5 tennis courts, gym, sauna, massage and jacuzzi all these areas are also of a very high standard, offering everything you would require for a nice afternoon away from the beach, if you love the beach the resort has enough to keep you occupied for days – Pedaloe’s, Body boards, Windsurfing hire/lessons, Catamaran lessons, Waterskiing etc, not that we have tried all these, pedaloes being a family favourite.

If you love golf you cannot visit a better place not only does Pine Cliffs have a 9 hole course it has some of the most famous courses in the world on its doorstep. Although its own course is not long, it is very challenging and has the World famous “devils parlour”, a challenging PAR3 hole, crossing the cliffs, this offers breathtaking views over the Atlantic Ocean, visit http://www.pinecliffs.com/en/sports_leisure/golf/ course/ for more info. The practice area includes a driving range, a chipping & pitching area and a large putting green.

The 2nd and more important reason is to visit Porto Pirata, our children’s favourite place “in the whole wide world” … so far anyhow.

It is a fully enclosed children’s play area of 7000 sqm, our 2 children cannot wait to get there with its two purpose-built wooden ships, a swimming pool, a second separate pool for remote control boats (supplied), a playground, a bouncy castle, a bike track etc etc…we lose them for hours. The staff are always very friendly and as far as we can tell have not changed in the several years we have visited. Porto Pirata has been voted the most complete facility for children in Portugal and has recently been enlarged with an 18-holes Mini-Golf facility, so now no doubt I will be thrashed at golf too.

There are several wonderful restaurants and bars with our favourites being O’Pescador, (seafood) and Aldar (Moroccan), both of which offered an amazing selection of fantastic food in wonderful surroundings, there’s also Mirador Bar where you can sit at sunset and sip your G&T or as I do try one of the local beers and admire one of the most spectacular views in the Algarve…although having said all of that the children much prefer Porto Alegrte, great Italian icecream, pizza, milk shakes, need I say more.

The staff throughout the resort are courteous and friendly at all times, nothing is too much trouble. I could go on forever about this hotel. Cannot wait until October 2006 when we will be there again…